Praktica's late-60s metered M42 SLR — the Super TL, stop-down CdS TTL, manual exposure, 1968.
The Praktica Super TL is a 35mm film SLR made by VEB Pentacon in Dresden, East Germany, appearing at the end of the 1960s as part of the pre-L Praktica line before the L-series became dominant. It added through-the-lens metering to the established M42 Praktica formula and was exported in quantity to the UK and Western Europe as an affordable metered SLR.
It is an M42 screw-mount SLR with a horizontal-travel cloth focal-plane shutter offering speeds to around 1/500 plus B. The Super TL has a battery-powered CdS through-the-lens meter operated stop-down, closing the aperture with a lever and matching a needle in the pentaprism finder. Exposure is manual only; the shutter is mechanically timed and fires without a battery, while the meter needs a cell to read.
The Super TL suits students and general users wanting an inexpensive metered M42 body with simple, mechanical operation. It handles in the plain, sturdy manner of period Prakticas, and works with the large, cheap pool of M42 lenses, making it economical to run. The lower top shutter speed and dimmed metering finder are the main limitations against later models.
For a used purchase, verify the meter responds and note the design assumed a mercury cell near 1.35V, so modern batteries shift readings unless compensated. Run the cloth shutter across its speeds watching for capping, pinholes or a sticky curtain, and inspect foam light seals and mirror-damper foam for perishing. Check the prism for desilvering, test advance and rewind feel, and confirm the stop-down lever and focusing screen function correctly.